Are you keen to attract more eyes to your brand? Nowadays, social media is the way to do it. It’s the perfect venue for directly engaging with your audience, fostering customer loyalty, and increasing brand visibility. Businesses tend to attract their customers and become more visible through paid media — that is, by paying to promote their content on various platforms, like social media. Paid media includes ads, influencer marketing, or paid content promotion. However, paid media alone can’t create meaningful, long-lasting, and trusting customer relationships. That’s where organic media comes in.
Organic media involves creating and sharing content without spending money to promote it to an audience. You grow organically by building a loyal following that’s invested in your high-quality content, and consistent engagement is also helpful.But how — and where — do you get started with organic growth?
⚡️1. Create compelling content #
Firstly, your content needs to be captivating to appeal to your target audience. To find out what kind of content your audience might enjoy, tailor your posts based on their demographics — you can learn more about how to do that in this article. Well done! You’ve now created a post that appeals to your audience. It’s ready to be posted, but before you hit the ‘Publish’ button, stop, and ask yourself:
‘Will my followers find this post useful?’ Posting with your audience in mind will make your content more shareable and relatable, increasing your reach.
⚡️2. #UseHashtags #
There are a few ways to grow your following using hashtags. Here’s one: use hashtags related to your industry. For competition businesses, some examples include:
- #freecompetition (if you’re running a free-to-enter competition)
- #entertowin
- #competitionuk
- #competitiontime
However, be careful with using hashtags that use overly generic terms, are excessively spammy or violate the platform’s guidelines or you could get shadow-banned! If you’re unsure about a hashtag, run it through a hashtag checker. You can also create branded hashtags to foster community growth. This allows your customers to engage, share, and view each other’s posts. For example, encourage previous winners to post their stories under the branded hashtag #[BRAND]wins. This will generate a discussion around your brand, and make people trust you more. It can even boost the future number of competition entries, as your followers will know that you and your prizes are legit. Finally, use popular hashtags like #MondayMood or #LifeGoals. You’ll come across as more human, and there’s a lot of creative (and funny!) potential behind these hashtags. Bring on some relatable content and memes!
⚡️3. Put a ring on it: Engage with your audience #
Organic growth stems from your ability to emotionally connect with your audience. So, start a dialogue with your followers. Ask them questions, reply to their comments and DMs, or host Instagram Lives. The choice is yours. Keep in mind that 70% of people say they feel more connected to a brand that’s interactive on social media. And that’s not all: 57% of them increase their spending because of that special connection. Your effort won’t be for nothing! When you do engage with your audience, make sure you’re prompt, kind and helpful. Sure, use a bit of humour if you think it’s appropriate, but don’t ever be rude — even if you may be responding to a customer’s negative experience. In that case, being quick in your reply, as well as friendly and helpful, is even more important. If you catch it early enough, you may fix a bad situation and turn a dissatisfied customer into a satisfied one.
⚡️4. Consistency is key #
Maintaining a consistent social media presence will likewise aid in your organic growth. Consistency keeps your audience engaged, helps you establish a solid online presence, and builds trust as it shows your commitment to creating content and growing your brand. Also, the reality is that social media algorithms tend to prioritise content from accounts that post frequently. This means you’ll have a better chance of appearing in your followers’ feeds if you maintain a consistent posting schedule. We bet you’ll feel great knowing you’re on top of your followers’ minds every day! Just FYI, posting constantly may take up your time and be a tad overwhelming, which is why we recommend scheduling your posts in advance. Use a content calendar to help you plan your posts ahead of time — it’s a life saver.
⚡️5. Optimise your profile #
When someone visits your social media page, you only have a few seconds to make a good impression and keep them scrolling through your profile. Those few seconds are crucial. During that short amount of time, people should be able to identify who you are, and what you do. That’s what profile optimisation is all about. It refers to polishing your social media presence by refining elements like your profile photo, description/bio and username.
Let’s take your Instagram profile as an example.
The ‘About You’ section has many boxes to fill in, including a username, bio, and a link. It’s essential to fill them all out. If you’re stuck on where to begin, here are some quick tips:
- Create a relevant username — i.e. your brand name
- Use a high-quality profile picture of your logo
- Write a concise (but compelling) bio describing your business and what you do
- In your bio, use keywords related to your industry to increase your chances of being discovered, like “competition,” “compete,” or “win prizes”
- Use emojis to break up the text in the bio to make it easier to read
- Don’t forget to add a call-to-action at the end
- Include a link — to your website or a competition sign-up form
Where do we grow from here? #
This article may have finished, but our team of experts is still here to guide you through. Contact us today if you have any queries or would like further advice. Let’s grow together.
